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Blood
Welcome to the Blood & Futility Wikia Blood & Futility is a setting for a table top RPG that uses primarily the Pathfinder ruleset, in conjunction with a number of custom rules that have been incorporated and adapted from various blogs, books, ideas, etc. This wikia is designed to share content and story setting for use in any RPG. Custom rules however, will primarily be designed to fit the Pathfinder system. Major influences include: * Last Gasp Grimoire * Gloomtrain * Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque * Monster Manual Sewn from Pants Description Blood & Futility is set in an early medieval period, loosely themed around a dark ages England. It is centered on the human kingdom of Ifland. In the monarchy of Ifland a civil war rages to the north. Long ago Ifland was founded by Everend Botin and his closest allies, subduing all the warlords, slaying or banishing the evil creatures of myth, and uniting the land under one ruler. Everend Botin took the mantle of King and his closest warriors were elevated to the ruling caste of Ifland and eventually sainted, laying the foundation for the Immaculate Order of the Thousand Saints. Each of the veteran warriors was given land to rule and govern under King Everend Botin. These areas are known today as parishes and are supervised by rectors of the Immaculate Order, each parish revering the original saint as well as various latter day saints. Veritus Caunter IV, descendent of Saint Bastt Caunter, noble lord of Deawyth Parish found cause to challenge the authority of King Perilous Botin III, descendent of Saint Everend Botin founder of Ifland. Declaring Saint Everend Botin to have grievously sinned in the final years of his rule and refuting the divine mandate of King Perilous Botin III, Veritus Caunter IV gathered his allies and declared his parish to be an independent kingdom. While the new kingdom of Deawyth is smaller than Ifland, and commands fewer resources, it is located in the mountainous region to the north. The Deawyth parish was known for its fortifications built into the mountain sides and the treacherous routes that traverse the regions. Using the natural and manmade defenses, Deawyth has stood against Ifland for two generations. Ifland’s larger armies have broken against the walls of Deawyth numerous times and King Perilous Botin III has been required to levy larger and larger numbers of peasants to fill out the thinning ranks. As King Perilous Botin III’s attention is focused on the rebellious kingdom of Deawyth, and the constant drain from the working class to support the armies, Ifland teeters on the brink of anarchy. Bandits roam the country side unchecked, crops fail without the farmers to tend them, and the villages have become more insular and reclusive. Regional Climate Ifland’s climate can be described as temperate, and is known for its rain and the lush green of its countryside, especially in fall and winter with strong gales, uncomfortable weather, and heavy rain. During the founding, Ifland was cleared from the ancient forests that still surround the region. Although areas for farmland and agriculture where carved out, the majority of the region remains moderately wooded, with the southern area transitioning into a colder marshland, heavily saturated by standing water. The northern area of Ifland, to include the region now known as Daewyth, is rugged and mountainous, with snowy peaks year round. The current state of affairs The kingdom of Ifland is crippled by efforts to sustain the offensive against Deawyth, known as the great Northern War. What was once thought of as a quick decisive victory, turned into a bloody conflict that has taken its toll across multiple generations. What was left of the standing army of Ifland was quickly augmented by militia, and later peasant men gathered by press gangs. With continued deprecation, the press gangs were forced to take in younger and younger peasants. Peasant females were mostly spared in order to prevent a loss of further generations; however this was ultimately unsuccessful as the birth rate dropped significantly due to unforeseen complications. During this time the source of food stock was severely impacted as many of the peasant farmers found themselves within the ranks of the armies, leaving the harvesting of their crops to relatives, children and widows. As the crops could not be harvested, many farmers were forced to leave them rotting in the fields while people elsewhere starved. The women and children that escaped the press gangs greatly suffered from malnutrition and famine. Diseases ran rampant and the death rate of those suffering from undernourishment soared. What little food stock was produced was seized by the noble populace in order to protect their families and standing guards. As the situation worsened many began searching for ways to survive, traveling from one side of the kingdom to the other in search of work. Initially it began as young adults in an attempt to relieve the burden on their families, but eventually began to encompass all ages, some even traveling outside the safety of Ifland. Out of desperation or opportunity, many turned to banditry, preying on the nomadic populace and what little merchants and traders were left. Ifland, already unstable, couldn’t cope with the lawlessness that existed outside of the larger settlements. Leaving large swathes of the countryside to the mercy of whoever claimed the area. The kingdom of Ifland is teetering on the brink of collapse, while villages and settlements attempt to uphold laws and survive another night. The harvest season is passing as winter begins to set in its icy claws. Doomsday cults, bandits, and religious fanatics all roam, anarchy reigns, and the war to the north continues. So where is everyone? Before the founding of Ifland, men were divided into warring tribes deep within an ancient forest, at the mercy of monsters and spirits. Saint Everend Botin rallied the tribes into a single war host and laid waste to the creatures that had preyed on humanity, ultimately cutting down and burning large portions of the ancient forest, leaving nowhere for the enemies of man to hide. One of the first things Saint Everend did as the new king, was to erect powerful totems around the kingdom, forbidding anyone to cross, and charging each village to maintain their vigil lest the tide of darkness once again swallow humanity. Ifland has been around for roughly seven generations and no one alive today has seen a supernatural creature, though everyone knows they exist. Many superstitions are kept alive to ward off wandering spirits, the fae, or any other malevolent creature that may find some way past the barriers. The act of crossing the edge of the ancient forest is still forbidden, and the settlements on the borders take their charge seriously. Life in a Settlement Settlements generally consist of several small huts. The huts are built with whatever local materials are most common. They might be built of whitewashed sod or wattle and daub (woven reeds plastered with clay), and often house the family's animals. The huts are typically one or two rooms, with a loft for storage. The family lives in a single room, in the center of which is a few flat stones on which the fire is placed. The roof is thatched, with a hole at the top through which the smoke escapes. There are no windows, and light comes in through the smoke hole and an open door. The floor is dirt, sometimes covered with leaves or rushes. The furniture is often only a trestle table, a few stools, and a storage chest or two for whatever pallets the family might spread on the floor as their beds. Attached to each hut is about a half an acre of land used by the family for a garden, chicken coop, pig pen, bee-hives and so forth. The huts are sometimes grouped around a central open place, in which the peasants might graze their animals. There is usually a source of water nearby, which is used as a source of tall grass that the villagers store for winter feed for their animals. Not too far away is the tamed forest in which the villagers pasture their pigs, gather nuts, berries, herbs, and other things, and pick up sticks and twigs to use as fuel. The villages act as a plowing cooperative since the cost of plow and draft animals are too great for a single family to bear alone. Each family owns portions in the fields into which the arable lands of the village were grouped. There were no fences between properties. Each village is responsible for a tithe of the harvest, which is counted and regulated by the local rector, and then given to the tax collectors. Setting Peculiarities The world of Blood & Futility has a number of peculiarities that differ from typical fantasy settings and or history. Primarily it is a Dark Ages style game, and age of ignorance and grit. Setting Roughly 1200 AD England, in an alternate world/history. Technology Behind the times, metals are rarer in Blood & Futility, so much like the old setting of Dragon Lance, steel is mythical. It is more common for people to have items/gear/weapons crafted out of substandard materials, such as stone, bone, wood, or softer metals. In order to facilitate this during game play, rules from the old Dark Sun setting have been added as follows. *Breaking Weapons: Bone and wooden weapons are prone to breaking. Whenever a successful attack inflicts maximum damage, roll a d20 (critical hit confirmation), on a result of a 1 the weapon will break. Currency Due to the nature of silver and its effects on magical creatures, it is more highly prized than gold. As this is the case, the values of gold and silver have swapped in a normal setting. This means that the lowest currency is copper, then gold, and the highest is silver. Silver is coveted, and as such is hoarded and taxed. As metals are rarer in general, and the average populace is very poor, it is more likely that exchanges are done through barter. 100 Copper is equal to 1 Gold 100 Gold is equal to 1 Silver Magic Magic exists, however almost no one alive today has seen it performed. Magic is relegated to the realm of the fantastical, myth, and history. Although, the belief that it exists in some form exists, and this fuels superstition, condemnation of outsiders, accusations of witch craft, etc. Both Arcane and Divine magic fall into this category, which means having a party healer who can just whip up cure light wounds, etc, isn’t going to happen. Healing can take weeks, injuries can be permanent, etc. The alternate rules for Magic are comprehensive is listed on their own pages, Arcane Magic and Divine Magic respectively. Playable Races The central point of this setting is the Kingdom of Ifland, which is a human settlement. Humans are the only playable race, though they can have quirks, ancestral blood lines, etc. Critical Hits/Fumbles As the world is dark and gritty, combat is potentially more lethal. To illustrate this, the critical hit/fumble chart originally developed by dragon magazine has been adapted to pathfinder. This will be outlined in a page dedicated to this subject. * The Immaculate Order of the Thousand Saints * Character Creation * Arcane Magic * Divine Magic Category:Browse